The International Cricket Council (ICC) has confessed that it often twists the depicts of key events to get India and Pakistan into the same group. The draw for the 2017 Champions Trophy in England saw India and Pakistan being grouped together, with defending champions India beginning their title defence against their arch-rivals at Edgbaston on June 4.
ICC chief executive Dave Richardson said, "No doubt, we try to put India versus Pakistan in our event, according to a report in 'The Telegraph'.
"It's hugely important from an ICC point of view. It's massive around the world and the fans have come to expect it as well. It's fantastic for the tournament because it gives it a massive kick."
Richardson denied that the 'tweaking' impacted the integrity of any tournament and stated, "What we try and do is make sure that when you add up the rankings of the different groups, they all add up to the same number of points. You can do that in a number of ways. So long as the pools are balanced, it's silly to avoid [the fixture] when you can fairly cater for it," he said.